Why doesn't Dragic play more minutes?

[DaDragicShow]

So I was checking on Suns.com and it shows Goran Dragic only played 80 minutes so far in the first 5 games of the season. While Channing Frye already played 125 minutes. That's 45 more min for him over Dragic. Something doesn't add up here and Id like to see Dragic get more minutes then a struggling Charmine Frye.

[Wannabe MEP]

If Dragic was 6'11" he'd get more minutes.

[Wannabe MEP]

But I agree. I think we should give him some time with Nash on the court. Perhaps not as much as I'd like to see Dudley and Childress playing with Nash, but still.

[KopLegend]

Steve Nash

[lilfishi22]

We're giving Nash more time to gel with the starting unit. The 2nd unit > starters right now.

[hunterxaz]

Nash with 30 Goran with 18. That's about all we can manage unless we play Steve less.

[Calvin Klein]

Steve Nash
Robin Lopez


pretty obvious.

[phx#7]

All the wing depth this year has meant he only plays when Nash is resting, unlike last year when Barbosa was out most of the season and Dragic would come in at SG while Nash was still on the court. There is no quality depth in the front court so Frye gets to play.

Hopefully the Suns can consolidate some players in a trade to free up time for Dudely and Dragic though, both of them deserve a bigger role.

[Just_Win]

They don't wanna hurt Nash's feelinings?

[ma_falaa_50]

I really do not see this as a bad thing. Do not forget guys Goran has had a full summer. I would like for him to preserve for later in the season. I think Lopez as much as he sucks right now. he needs the minutes. we need him down the stretch.

[Kerrsed]

I think Lopez as much as he sucks right now. he needs the minutes. we need to trade him down the stretch.

Fixed.

[DBrimstone]

All the wing depth this year has meant he only plays when Nash is resting, unlike last year when Barbosa was out most of the season and Dragic would come in at SG while Nash was still on the court. There is no quality depth in the front court so Frye gets to play.

Hopefully the Suns can consolidate some players in a trade to free up time for Dudely and Dragic though, both of them deserve a bigger role.

I said this in the game thread but Grant Hill is a moot point really. Dudley and Childress do what he does just fine. I doubt we'll trade him out of loyalty, but he's not really needed anymore. If he were gone we'd be able to move Hedo to the 3, and start Warrick. Play Lawal 15 minutes a night and see what he can do. He'd help the second units rebounding and I'd love to see him throw some dunks down

[JohnVancouver]

All the wing depth this year has meant he only plays when Nash is resting, unlike last year when Barbosa was out most of the season and Dragic would come in at SG while Nash was still on the court. There is no quality depth in the front court so Frye gets to play.

Hopefully the Suns can consolidate some players in a trade to free up time for Dudely and Dragic though, both of them deserve a bigger role.

I said this in the game thread but Grant Hill is a moot point really. Dudley and Childress do what he does just fine. I doubt we'll trade him out of loyalty, but he's not really needed anymore. If he were gone we'd be able to move Hedo to the 3, and start Warrick. Play Lawal 15 minutes a night and see what he can do. He'd help the second units rebounding and I'd love to see him throw some dunks down

Never happen, and I think you discount what Hill brings.

[Never Fear 33 Is Here]

All the wing depth this year has meant he only plays when Nash is resting, unlike last year when Barbosa was out most of the season and Dragic would come in at SG while Nash was still on the court. There is no quality depth in the front court so Frye gets to play.

Hopefully the Suns can consolidate some players in a trade to free up time for Dudely and Dragic though, both of them deserve a bigger role.

I said this in the game thread but Grant Hill is a moot point really. Dudley and Childress do what he does just fine. I doubt we'll trade him out of loyalty, but he's not really needed anymore. If he were gone we'd be able to move Hedo to the 3, and start Warrick. Play Lawal 15 minutes a night and see what he can do. He'd help the second units rebounding and I'd love to see him throw some dunks down

That is all.

[WTFsunsFTW]

Dragic will continue to play small minutes until nash figures out how to get his squad from standing around until he dribbles into a clogged paint and has to do a desperation pass back to the perimeter.

[Kerrsed]

[Rinaldi]

Never happen, and I think you discount what Hill brings.

when Hill has a + in plus/minus stats, Suns lose, and vice versa. He had -10 and -4 in the last two games wheras he had +5 in the loss against San Antonio. It is time to move him to bench, move hedo to SF and start with two tall guys. Lopez and Frye together would have the effect of one normal center, still better than lopez alone there.

[lilfishi22]

when Hill has a + in plus/minus stats, Suns lose, and vice versa. He had -10 and -4 in the last two games wheras he had +5 in the loss against San Antonio. It is time to move him to bench, move hedo to SF and start with two tall guys. Lopez and Frye together would have the effect of one normal center, still better than lopez alone there.

How does that make any sense? He had a positive +/- score when we lost against the Spurs, therefore he should be moved to the bench? JRich also had a positive +/- against the Spurs so we should move him to the bench too? JRich only had a +/- score of +1 in that game against the Grizzlies when he went for 38, yet Childress had a +8, so by your use of the +/- stat, we should move JRich to the bench in favor of Childress. JRich also had a -4 in the win against the Hawks and he was the only other starter to post a negative +/- score. So we should move him to the bench right?

[Rinaldi]

what i tried to say is that Hill may be playing well in some of the games, but the team lost those games. So his production does not have a direct positive impact on the team success. don't get me wrong, he is one of my favorite players since the days he drank sprite.

+/- stat does not reflect much. but for example, JRich had only +1 because he used about 30 shots to get that 38. That is not efficient scoring, that's why he only got a +1.

my idea of moving a SF to the bench is to make the interior defense better. we have nash, hill, hedo, and lopez, none of which play much defense. move either hedo or hill to the bench and bring in warrick for example.

[Sun Scorched]

+/- is a good measure of production when used correctly, but it can also be completely correlated to a player being on the floor during a major push by either team offensive.

That, and Hill has always played well against the Spurs. The + there doesn't surprise me. The only other thing I would say is that (and this is my observation) Hill does his best to spark the team on when we are playing flat. He also does a great job of stepping aside when someone else is feeling it.

That, and you have to consider that Hill's +/- generally comes when he is guarding the best perimeter player on the opposing team. Even if we win, odds are Hill is on the court at the same time as the opposing team's best offensive unit.

Conversely, our bench (as awesome as they are) will spend more time against the opposing bench and, thus, will have the ability to unload an air raid on almost strictly bench-caliber players.